In Berlin,

I met up with Gustav by the Brandenburg Gate, a prominent Berlin landmark built in the late 18th century which was the site of Ronald Reagan's famed Cold War speech in which he demanded "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Following our introduction, Gustav proceeded to give a fact-filled tour of the surrounding area's major landmarks as we walked by the Reichstag building (home of the German parliament) and the Bundeskanzleramt (home of the German chancellery), 

across the line where the Berlin wall had once stood and down Unter den Linden, a street where many building from the Prussian period still stand. Neue Wache, that is "New Guard House", a Prussian guardhouse from 1816, which is now the "Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Tyranny", was a particularly moving site.

Following a traditional Bavarian lunch of weisswurt, ein brezel und weissbier, and a visit to the Akademie der Kunste, the official arts council to the German government (of which Gustav is one of five hundred members chosen from throughout the German arts world), we retired to Gustav's apartment to chat about his work as a newspaper editor, journalist and author of historical books.

The following day, thanks to the much-appreciated assistance of Mr. Tymen DeJohn, First Solar's vice president of global manufacturing, I visited the offices of First Solar in Berlin and their manufacturing plant in Frankfurt an der Oder, a city east of Berlin, near the German-Polish border. First Solar is a global leader in the manufacturing of thin film photovoltaics and it was a fantastic learning experience to visit them. In Berlin, I received a presentation from Max Junghanns which gave a broad overview of the company, and in Frankfurt, I received a tour from Mr. Burghard von Westerholt of the manufacturing facilities where 9,000 photovoltaics panels are made each day on lines that operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The scale, precision and rapid growth of their operation was truly stunning.

At both the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg and the offices of First Solar in Berlin, I had been informed that it might interest me to adjust my travel plans in Germany in order to attend Intersolar Europe, the largest solar energy industry exposition in the world, in Munich from June 6 to June 10. I gladly accepted this advice and purchased a train ticket for myself in order to travel to Munich. While conference tickets were of the order of €1000, the Fraunhofer Institute, as an organizing partner, was kind enough to help me get into the conference free of cost.

At the conference, I attended a number of informative talks given by industry representatives, market analysts, national politicians and academics. The presentations which I attended were on a wide variety of topics including "India's PV Market Development", "Balance of Systems" (an analysis of the power electronic devices used in connecting photovoltaic power plants to the grid), "Concentrating PV" and "PV Energy World" (a presentation by representatives of Fraunhofer ISE and Siemens on the progress made by and the future prospects of renewable energy technologies). In addition to conference talks, I attended the industry exposition and strolled through hall after hall of industry exhibitors, marveling at the number of players in the market and listening to sales pitch after sales pitch.

A few pictures from my time at Intersolar Europe:

A sign outside the convention center entrance commemorating the 20th year of Intersolar Europe.

Quick Fact:

In 1991, five companies presented their products at the one day exhibition. 

In 2011, approximately 2,200 exhibitors presented their products and 75,000 visitors attended the week-long event.

The information desks and ticket booths at the entrance to the industry exposition on its opening day.

Exposition Scale Assistance:

There were 16 halls of this size filled with companies presenting their products.

Mr. Stryi-Hipp of the Fraunhofer ISE presenting at The PV Energy World Booth